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NPT
News in Review, Vol. 21,
No. 5 |
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NPT
News in Review
Vol.
21, No. 5
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Ripping
Out the Roots of the
Atomic Bomb
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 As delegations attending the NPT Review
Conference
complete their
first read-through
of the zero draft outcome document, it seems clear
that the
divergences among
states’ positions
are as stark as
ever—perhaps even
more so than in
2022, when the
Conference failed
to reach agreement
in part over
language relating
to Russia’s war on
Ukraine, or in
2015, when the
Conference failed
at the behest of
non-state party
Israel. While
there is still a
week and a half
and more draft
documents to come,
the key sticking
points seem clear.
When it comes to
Main Committee I
issues, these
include, among
other things,
nuclear sharing
and extended
nuclear deterrence
(END)
arrangements; the
mounting
uncertainty about
states’ commitment
to the global norm
against nuclear
weapon testing;
the differing ways
states perceive
nuclear
disarmament as
contributing to
international
security or
undermining
national security;
and the ways in
which that impacts
how they approach
discussions on the
humanitarian and
environmental
consequences of
nuclear weapons
and the Treaty on
the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons.
The divergences
are certainly not
limited to these
issues, and the
discussions in
Main Committees II
and III also
reveal more fault
lines (including
attacks on nuclear
facilities, Iran’s
nuclear programme,
access and export
controls in
relation to
nuclear energy,
and more). Then
there are the
debates in the
subsidiary bodies
and the
closed-door
negotiations with
Committee Chairs
and the Conference
President, which
aren’t accessible
to civil society.
But the open
discussions once
again brought into
sharp relief the
core problem of
the NPT: that some
states believe
nuclear weapons
are essential to
their security and
they are not
willing, despite
their legal
obligations, to
give them up;
while most others
understand that
the devastating
impacts of nuclear
weapons, coupled
with the ways in
which these
weapons are used
as instruments of
coercive control,
render them
inherently
unacceptable and
categorically
illegal. It will
be up to states
parties to either
suddenly figure
out how to square
these circles, or
get creative about
what the majority
can do to advance
peace, justice,
and disarmament
and prevent acts
of nuclear
violence.
Read the full editorial online >>
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